Greetings, fellow hackers and penetration testers! In today’s fast-paced cyber landscape, it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of the game when it comes to red teaming and penetration testing. Today, we’re going to dive deep into the world of Cobalt Strike Community Edition, an open-source red teaming tool that has taken the cybersecurity community by storm. With its robust capabilities and powerful features, Cobalt Strike has quickly become a must-have tool for red teamers and pen testers alike.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to get started with Cobalt Strike Community Edition, from setting up your environment to executing sophisticated attacks against your targets. We’ll also discuss real-world examples and provide code samples to help you get the most out of this powerful tool. So grab your favorite beverage, get comfortable, and let’s dive into the world of Cobalt Strike!

Section 1: Setting Up Your Environment

Downloading and Installing Cobalt Strike

The first step in getting started with Cobalt Strike is to download the Community Edition from the official GitHub repository. It’s important to note that the Community Edition is a separate project from the commercial version of Cobalt Strike, which requires a paid license. However, the Community Edition still offers many of the same powerful features, making it a fantastic option for red teamers and pen testers on a budget.

After downloading the repository, extract the contents to your desired location. Once extracted, navigate to the ‘bin’ directory and launch the cobaltstrike.jar file. This will start the Cobalt Strike GUI, allowing you to begin configuring your environment.

Configuring Your Team Server

Cobalt Strike operates as a client-server model, with a team server acting as the central hub for managing your engagements. This server allows for collaboration among multiple operators and can even be used to manage multiple engagements simultaneously.

To set up your team server, you’ll first need a Linux-based system (preferably a VPS or dedicated server) with Java installed. Once you’ve got your server up and running, download the Cobalt Strike Linux package and extract it to a directory of your choosing.

Next, you’ll need to generate an SSL certificate for your team server. This can be done using OpenSSL, as shown in the example below:

openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -days 365 -nodes -x509 -keyout server.key -out server.crt

Now, it’s time to configure the Cobalt Strike team server. Navigate to the extracted Cobalt Strike directory on your Linux system and open the cobaltstrike.conf file in a text editor. Here, you’ll want to set your preferred IP address and port for the team server, as well as specify the paths to your SSL certificate and key files.

[general]
bind_address=YOUR_SERVER_IP
bind_port=YOUR_SERVER_PORT
ssl_certificate=./server.crt
ssl_key=./server.key

Save your changes, and you’re ready to start the team server. To do this, navigate to the Cobalt Strike directory in the terminal and execute the following command:

./teamserver YOUR_SERVER_IP YOUR_PASSWORD

Replace YOUR_SERVER_IP with your server’s IP address and YOUR_PASSWORD with a strong password of your choosing. This password will be used to authenticate clients connecting to your team server.

Connecting to Your Team Server

With your team server up and running, it’s time to connect to it using the Cobalt Strike GUI. Launch Cobalt Strike on your local machine, and click on the ‘Cobalt Strike’ menu in the upper-left corner of the window. Select ‘Connect,’ and a new window will appear, prompting you to enter your team server’s IP address, port, and password. Fill in the required information and click ‘Connect’ to establish a connection to your team server.

Congratulations! You’re now connected to your team server and ready to begin your red team engagement using Cobalt Strike Community Edition.

Section 2: Reconnaissance and Target Enumeration

Using Cobalt Strike’s Reconnaissance Tools

Before launching any attacks, it’s essential to gather as much information about your target as possible. Cobalt Strike provides a suite of built-in reconnaissance tools to help you accomplish this.

One of the most powerful reconnaissance tools included with Cobalt Strike is the ‘System Profiler.’ This web-based tool allows you to gather information about a target’s system, including OS, browser, and even installed security products. To use the System Profiler, navigate to the ‘Attacks’ menu in Cobalt Strike, and select ‘Web Drive-by’ > ‘System Profiler.’ This will generate a unique URL that you can send to your target or use in a phishing attack.

Another useful reconnaissance tool is the ‘DNS Enumeration’ feature. This tool allows you to enumerate DNS records associated with a target domain, potentially revealing valuable information about a target’s infrastructure. To use DNS Enumeration, navigate to the ‘Recon’ menu in Cobalt Strike, and select ‘DNS’ > ‘Enumerate DNS Records.’ Enter the target domain and click ‘Start’ to begin the enumeration process.

Third-Party Tools Integration

Cobalt Strike also provides seamless integration with popular third-party reconnaissance tools like Nmap, Masscan, and Shodan. For example, you can import Nmap scan results directly into Cobalt Strike by navigating to the ‘Recon’ menu and selecting ‘Import Scan Data.’ This will automatically populate Cobalt Strike with the discovered hosts and open ports, allowing you to quickly and easily visualize your target’s network landscape.

Section 3: Exploitation and Post-Exploitation

Building and Deploying Payloads

Once you’ve gathered enough information about your target, it’s time to craft and deploy your payloads. Cobalt Strike offers a powerful payload generation tool called the ‘Artifact Kit.’ This tool allows you to create custom, obfuscated payloads that can bypass many common antivirus solutions.

To create a payload using the Artifact Kit, navigate to the ‘Attacks’ menu and select ‘Packages’ > ‘Windows Executable (S).’ In the window that appears, choose your desired listener (more on this in the next section), and configure your payload options as needed. Click ‘Generate’ to create your custom payload, which can then be deployed using your preferred method, such as phishing emails or social engineering attacks.

Setting Up and Managing Listeners

Listeners are the key component of Cobalt Strike’s command and control (C2) infrastructure. They enable you to maintain control over your compromised targets and execute post-exploitation actions.

To set up a listener, navigate to the ‘Cobalt Strike’ menu and select ‘Listeners.’ In the window that appears, click the ‘+’ button to add a new listener. Cobalt Strike offers a variety of listener types, including HTTP, HTTPS, and DNS. Choose the listener type that best suits your needs and configure the required options, such as the port number and payload staging settings. Once your listener is configured, click ‘Save’ to create it.

With your listener up and running, you can now deploy your payloads and begin establishing footholds within your target’s network. As targets become compromised, they will appear in the ‘Targets’ tab within Cobalt Strike’s interface. This tab provides a comprehensive overview of all compromised systems, including IP addresses, operating systems, and any associated process information.

Post-Exploitation with Beacons

Cobalt Strike’s primary post-exploitation feature is the ‘Beacon.’ Beacons are lightweight, customizable agents that provide a powerful command and control interface for your compromised targets. With Beacons, you can execute commands, perform lateral movement, and even pivot through a target’s network.

When a target becomes compromised, a new Beacon session will be established, and you can interact with the target by double-clicking on its entry in the ‘Targets’ tab. The Beacon console allows you to issue commands directly to the target, such as ‘ipconfig’ to display network configuration information or ‘hashdump’ to dump password hashes.

Lateral Movement with Cobalt Strike

Lateral movement is a critical component of any successful red team engagement, and Cobalt Strike provides several built-in tools to help you move laterally through a target’s network. One popular method is to use the ‘PsExec’ tool to execute payloads on remote systems within the same network.

To use PsExec, first, ensure that you have valid domain credentials for the target network. Then, navigate to the ‘Attacks’ menu in Cobalt Strike and select ‘Lateral Movement’ > ‘PsExec.’ In the window that appears, enter the target system’s hostname or IP address, as well as the domain credentials you obtained earlier. Choose your desired payload and listener, and click ‘Execute’ to launch the attack.

Another powerful lateral movement technique in Cobalt Strike is the ‘SSH Session Pass-the-Hash’ feature. This allows you to leverage stolen SSH password hashes to authenticate to remote systems without ever knowing the actual password. To use this feature, first, obtain the target’s SSH password hash using a tool like Mimikatz. Then, navigate to the ‘Attacks’ menu and select ‘Lateral Movement’ > ‘SSH Session Pass-the-Hash.’ Enter the target’s IP address, username, and stolen password hash, and click ‘Login’ to establish a connection.

Privilege Escalation

Privilege escalation is often necessary to gain complete control over a compromised system or to access sensitive data. Cobalt Strike offers several built-in privilege escalation exploits, which can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Attacks’ menu and selecting ‘Elevate.’ Some popular privilege escalation exploits included with Cobalt Strike are:

  • MS16-032: Secondary Logon Handle Privilege Escalation
  • MS16-135: Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers EoP

To use one of these exploits, simply select it from the ‘Elevate’ menu, and Cobalt Strike will attempt to escalate the privileges of the current Beacon session.

Section 4: Reporting and Cleanup

Generating Reports

A critical aspect of any red team engagement is the generation of comprehensive reports that detail your findings and provide recommendations for remediation. Cobalt Strike’s built-in reporting feature allows you to generate professional, customizable reports with just a few clicks.

To generate a report, navigate to the ‘Cobalt Strike’ menu and select ‘Reporting’ > ‘Generate Report.’ In the window that appears, configure your desired report options, such as the report format (HTML, PDF, or DOCX), the sections to include, and any custom branding. Once you’ve configured your report, click ‘Generate’ to create it.

Cleanup and Maintaining OpSec

Once your engagement is complete, it’s essential to clean up any artifacts left behind and ensure that your activities remain undetected. Cobalt Strike provides a built-in ‘Cleanup’ feature to help you accomplish this. To use the Cleanup feature, navigate to the ‘Cobalt Strike’ menu and select ‘Cleanup.’ This will display a list of all deployed payloads, listeners, and other artifacts associated with your engagement. You can choose to clean up specific items or perform a complete cleanup by clicking the ‘Cleanup All’ button.

In addition to using Cobalt Strike’s Cleanup feature, it’s crucial to maintain operational security (OpSec) throughout your engagement. This includes:

  • Regularly rotating your C2 infrastructure to avoid detection
  • Employing traffic obfuscation techniques, such as Domain Fronting or the use of ‘malleable C2’ profiles
  • Ensuring that your payloads and implants are properly obfuscated to avoid antivirus detection
  • Utilizing covert communication channels, such as DNS or ICMP tunnelling, to minimize the risk of detection

Conclusion

Cobalt Strike Community Edition is a powerful and versatile red teaming tool that offers an impressive array of features for reconnaissance, exploitation, post-exploitation, and reporting. With its robust capabilities, user-friendly interface, and seamless integration with popular third-party tools, Cobalt Strike has quickly become an indispensable part of any red teamer’s or pen tester’s toolkit.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ve covered everything you need to know to get started with Cobalt Strike Community Edition, from setting up your environment to executing sophisticated attacks against your targets. We’ve also discussed real-world examples and provided code samples to help you get the most out of this powerful tool. Armed with this knowledge, you’re now ready to take your red team engagements and penetration tests to the next level using Cobalt Strike Community Edition.

Happy hacking, and stay stealthy!